Coiling apparatus



o. HAUGWITZ 2,886,258

COILING APPARATUS May 12, 1959 Filed April 27, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 May 12', 1959 o. HAUGWITZ CO'ILING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 27, 1956 United States PatentO COILING APPARATUS Otto Haugwitz, Chaville, France, assignor to Socit Anonyme dite: Geoffroy-Delore, Paris, France Application April 27, 1956, Serial No. 581,033

Claims priority, application France May 12, 1955 4 Claims. (Cl. 242-82) In the manufacture of bare or insulated wire, it is always required to draw the wire through production 2,886,258 PatentedMay lg, 1959 supports a set of angled guide pulleys guiding the wire rotation, the cylinder supporting exteriorly thereof an machines and thereafter to wind it up for handling and storage purposes. Heretofore the wire was wound on drums and it was therefore required to provide both a draft or pulling unit, usually in the form of a conical Winch, and a take-up unit consisting of a winder driven from the machine itself through an adjustable friction means or from a slip-drive motor which would be capable of matching the velocity to that of the winch so as to maintain a predetermined tension on the wire, since the angular speed of the winder has to decrease relatively to that of the winch as the drum is gradually filled. A

guide device of adjustable pitch and displacement in accordance with the gauge of the wire and the width of the drum, driven by the drum, guides the wire and ensures a regular winding process. To remove the wire from the drums during the subsequent manufacturing stages a discharge frame is necessary. All thisequipment including the drums is comparatively expensive, space consuming and involves considerable maintenance.

excentered element which is adapted progressively to displace the turns all around the space between the two cylinders.

In a commercial aspect the apparatus is contained in a casing secured to a fixed gentry beneath which the barrels to be filled are consecutively introduced.

Since the barrels are stationary during filling they can be readily replaced after each filling operation so that continuous operation may easily be obtained as will be more fully disclosed hereinafter.

The invention will now be described with reference to the ensuing description and the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is an overhead view of the apparatus;

Fig. 2 is a side view, with the barrel and easing of the feeder shown in axial section;

Fig. 3 and Fig. 4 illustrate the system whereby the filled barrels may be interchanged in operation.

- On the drawing a conventional take-up barrel or cylinder has been shown at I, placed on a base 2' more Another known method of winding wire, which'possesses some advantages over that described above, consists in drawing the wire with a winch and then inserting it into a container in the form of a cylindrical 'barrel rotated about its axis and in which is disposed a cylinder of smaller diameter than that of the outer cylinder wall.

The wire fills the space between the two cylinders.

The drawback with this last process lies in the fact that the barrel in which the wire is stored must be rotated, which circumstance obviously precludes continuous operation since in order to change a barrel once a barrel has been filled the rotation has to be arrested to remove the filled barrel and substitute an empty barrel therefor.

The present invention provides a remedy to this drawback and relates to apparatus of the kind including a barrel and winding winch, the invention essentially residing in the fact that the take-up barrel and the winch drum are stationary and a distributor unit'for feeding and guiding the wire (or the like) is rotatably mounted over said barrel.

More especially an apparatus according to the inveni tion comprises a stationary take-up barrel and the rotary feeder is disposed coaxially above such barrel, the rotary feeder including on the one hand a winch drum fixedly arranged relatively to the barrel, and on the other hand a table rotatably mounted on a hollow shaft coaxial with the barrel and the winch drum, said table carrying guide pulleys for guiding the wire, cable or the like about the winch drum prior to depositing it in the barrel.

In the case of a flexible wire or cable the number of guide pulleys may be limited; in the more. general case of wire and cables which may show a certain amount of stiffness, the invention provides means for bringing the wire or cable to a pre-wound condition so that the turns For this purpose the above mentioned rotary table fully described hereinafter.

The feeder unit carried by a gantry 3 comprises a fixed winch drum 4 having two vertically spaced grooves i.e. a lower groove 5 and an upper groove 6.- The winch drum is rigidly connected with the gantry 3 by a part 7. Extending through the assembly is 'a hollow shaft 8 driven in rotation through pulleys 9 and 11 and belt 12 from 'a motor 10.

The feeder unit moreover includes a turntable 13 driven by shaft 8, and drive pulleys which may be grouped in two sets.

In a first set the drive pulleys are mounted in angled condition on shafts journalled in supports rigid with the turntable 13. These pulleys comprise: the pulley 14 v located under turntable 13 tangentially to the axis thereof, the pulley 15 mounted above turntable 13 and having a common tangent with the upper groove 6 of the'winch drum, and the pulley 16 mounted above turntable 13 and also having a common tangent with the upper winch 3 groove 6.

In the second set the pulleys are horizontal and regu larly spaced above turntable 13so as to tension an auxiliary belt 17 trained around a semi-circumference of the lower groove 5 of winch 4.

In the case of a substantially stiff cable there is desirably associated with one of these pulleys a cablerectifying system consisting of a set of small pulleys 18 arranged to guide the cable over' a predetermined path. The second set of pulleys in the illustrated instance consists of the pulleys 19a, 19b, 19ci' The device operates in the following way: 1 The cable 20 after having passed over the idler pulle 21 moves vertically downwards through shaft 8 and over a path as follows: drive pulley 14, drive pulley 15, semicircumference of upper winch groove 5 guided by belt 17 stretched by pulleys 19a, 19b, 190. Finally, the cable, pre-shaped into coils, passes through the slot or aperture 22 of turntable 13 and forms into the coils 23 which flow into the bottom of barrel or cylinder 1.

As previously stated, in order to provide a smoother 3. distribution. between. the. turns v 23. in. the. bottomof. the barrel or cylinder 1, there is provided a revolving excenter system consisting inthe illustrated instance of the cylinderl temountedon asha-ft 25-and driven'through a friction. clutch-.26, an adjustable:b'rake 27 being provided. This brake. isamounted. on. a:lever 28"which engages with thew-inner. cylinder 29: through a pin 30*projectinginto. a slotinthecover 31-ofi barrel 29.

The cylinder. 24'-carries "an eccentric element 321 which, as a result of the slow rotation of cylinder 24, acts progressiv'ely toseparate the-turns around. the full circumference of b'arrel l; It is seen from Fig. 3 that this will result in: a distributionof theturns 23 in a honeycomb pattern.

The whole feeder unit is. enclosed in a. casing, 33' the base-of which. is-formed as a cylinder. 34 slightly less in diameter thanthat oflthe barrel 1 so that the turns will not be liable to catch but will drop freely into the barrel.

One great advantage of the device described consists in the possibility; of working; continuously for filling and emptying thebarrels, a type of. operation that was not practicablewith themethodsi and devices known heretofore. The continuous annealing of copper. wire, contin-v uousvulcanization. of" rubber insulated wire, and: the roving of plastic insulated. wireall require operation without shut-down or-slow-down periods, if .it is desired to avoid. the-considerablewaste occurring after each such period. The replacement of the barrels should therefore be effected in operation and the two ends of wire have to be'accessible so. as to. make it possible to effect the soldered connection with the next length during time that one barrel is being emptied at the inputof' the machine using the wire.

There .is illustratedin Figs 3 and 4 one advantageous arrangement'for-the replacement of barrels on operation.

The barrels are provided with. bases 2 (Fig. 2) which allow their. being handled with a. hoisting jack.

Thebasemoreover. carries-two outwardly directed angleirons40. The barrels may if desired be formed with sets-of apertures (notshown) in their. side walls for. inspecting at any time the amount of cable that has been wound on or off.

As illustrated in Fig. 4, a pivotal frame 41. is mounted beneath the draft system and'carries a pair of fork members 42..adapted to berrotated about the shaft 43 and to receive a pair of barrels 1 and In between. the arms thereof. One barrel say 1 is at any time positioned in vertical axial alignment with. the system described above. so asto be ina position to receivethe cable or wire, while the. other. barrel laisthen. positioned in front of the system. The. assemblyincluding arm. 41. and forks 42 is adapted tobe rotated 180 about the shaft 43 so as to change the. particular. barrel in receiving position. Means may. beprov-ided for latching. the assembly in each of its operative positions so as to prevent inadvertent displacement of. abarrel. during loading thereof.

Moreover, in order to permit a. continuous feed of.

the cable even. duringcthe periods in which the assembly is being rotated for replacing one barrel'by the other, it is necessaryto provide means whereby the cable may be'collected during the time it is not being received into a barrel.

For this purpose. the cylinder. 34 serves as a storage means. Thiszcylinder: as. is clearly shown. in. Fig. 3 is provided with a pair of plates 46 movably fitted to it.

and adapted to. beoperate by meansv of lever systems 47-48 for sealing the. bottom end of the cylinder 34, the plates beingselectively insertable inwardly as far as 4 theinner. cylinder. 24. InFig. 2 the right-hand plate 46 is shown thus inserted.

When the barrel has been filled, the storage cylinder is closed by means of the lever 47 so that the turns of cable will provisionally coil up in the space defined between the walls 24 and 34. The barrel in receiving position is changed, the wire is cut off and the end of the wire hanging from the coiled mass accumulated is made fast to the side of the empty barrel, so as to make it readily accessible for the welder. The mass of coils previously stored is then cast loose by operating the lever 47.

During the time that each barrel is being filled there is ample time to replace the previously filled barrel on the pair of forks 42, with a similar empty barrel.

What is claimed is:

1. In apparatus for taking up an elongated flexible element, a stationary vertical hollow cylinder, stationary drum means supported coaxially with and spaced above said cylinder'and adapted to receive said element around the periphery thereof, and means including an aperture rotatable between said drum and cylinder about the common axis thereof and arranged for having said element fed through said. aperture for coiling into said cylinder on rotation of said apertured means.

2. In apparatus for taking up an elongated flexible element, a stationary vertical hollow cylinder, stationary drum means supported coaxially with and spaced above said cylinder and'adapted to receive said element around the periphery thereof, an apertured member rotatable betweenv said drum and cylinder about the common axis thereof and arranged for having said element fed through the-aperture therein, pulley means carried by said member and adapted for guiding engagement with said ele ment,.. and means for rotating said member.

3. In apparatus for coiling a flexible element, a stationary vertical hollow cylinder, a stationary drum supported coaxially with and spaced above the cylinder and adapted to receive said element around the periphery thereof, a-n apertured member rotatable between the drum and cylinder about the common axis thereof and arranged for having said element fed from the drum through the aperture in said member for coiled insertion into the cylinder, pulley means carried by said member and adapted for engagement by the element to guide the element towards said drum, flexible means carried by said member and engaging said drum periphery to apply said element-thereabout, and means for rotating said member.

4. In. apparatus for coiling a flexible element, a stationary vertical hollow cylinder, a stationary drum sup ported coaxially with and spaced above the cylinder and adaptedtoreceive said element about the periphery thereof, an apertured member rotatable between the drum and cylinder about the common axis thereof and arranged for: having said element fed from said drum throughtheaperture in said member for coiled insertion into the cylinder, first pulley means carried by said member and adapted for engagement by the element to guide the element towards said drum, further pulley means carried by said member, and a flexible means trained about said further pulley means and engaging said drum. periphery for applying said element thereagainst.

ReferencesCited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

